Label Planet
If you'd like to know what a standard label size is, this blog post will explain what these sizes are and why we stock them.
You may have noticed that we describe some of our products as being "standard" label sizes. Here's what we mean by standard and why we have chosen to sell products in these particular label sizes.
- Standard label sizes are suitable for a variety of label applications and extremely cost-effective.
Standard label sizes are the most economical sizes that can be produced on A4 sheets (making them more cost-effective) and they are useful for a range of applications. Standard sizes of labels supplied on A4 sheets have their dimensions determined by the sizes that are naturally created by dividing an A4 sheet into the required number of equal sized rows and columns to create the required number of labels per sheet. When label layouts are created with blank edges around the sheet – known as selvedges – or gaps between the rows and/or columns (to ensure the label sheets can be printed accurately), the spaces are generally kept as small as possible to reduce the amount of waste material that is created on each sheet.
These sizes are manufactured regularly and in large volumes, which means that they incur lower manufacturing costs than more unusual sizes or bespoke labels that are made as and when they are requested.
We therefore sell a number of the same label sizes and layouts as other manufacturers and suppliers do because these products are easier to print accurately, are readily available, and allow us to pass on better prices to our customers. - Standard label sizes are compatible with one another.
As these sizes use the same measurements and layouts, they are compatible with one another - which means you can use any template designed for a standard label size to print onto any label product made in that standard size. This is especially important if the software you want or need to use to print your labels will only allow you to do so using a template that is built into the software itself. Standard label sizes are so popular across the labelling industry that most software with built-in templates will include templates for standard label sizes. - Standard label sizes are different in the UK and the US.
Labels manufactured for the UK and US are not compatible with each other; this is because the US uses a page size of American Letter (8.5 inches x 11 inches or 215.9mm x 279.4mm) and label sizes that are measured in inches, while the UK uses a page size of A4 (210mm x 297mm) and label sizes that are measured in millimetres.
You may have noticed that when you use built in templates, the same manufacturer may be listed twice - once for their range of UK/A4 labels and once for their range of US/Letter labels. If you are using software that was developed by (and for) an American company, you will need to find an American label supplier that can ship to the UK.
Alternatively, if you are able to shift away from American label sizes, you can convert your label measurements from inches to mm and you should be able to find a suitable UK label size that either matches or is close enough to the dimensions you want to use.
- We also supply non-standard label sizes.
In order to give our customers the best possible range of products to choose from, we supply over 100 label sizes - many of which are not considered to be "standard". While some of these label sizes will be compatible with labels supplied by other label manufacturers, some of them are unique to us. This is why we supply label templates for all of our label sizes so you don’t need to rely on a built in template to get your labels designed and printed.